In a recent Forbes article, Forrester Analyst TJ Keitt challenged businesses and their IT organization to assess if they are ready to support a flexible and mobile workforce outside of the firewall.

“The bottom line is that if businesses are to smartly plan for and provision a mobile workforce, they need to have a firm grasp of what the issues are related to these workers. That being said, is your business really ready to handle the bulk of your employees doing work full or part time from outside your firewall?” – TJ Keitt – Forbes.com – June 7, 2011

Are you ready? Imagine what would happen if you weren’t. Imagine if you don’t provide tools that give employees the flexibility they will need to communicate and collaborate with their colleagues. Imagine if you didn’t understand or seek to know the needs of these workers. Hmmm…

Maybe you become less competitive in retaining or attracting top talent. Maybe you become less competitive in your space. Maybe business decisions are dysfunctional because middle managers who are traveling or at the home office become removed from key interactions where they have a wealth of knowledge. What happens then?

I hope your knowledge workers are outfitted to be mobile and flexible; collaborating, conferencing, and meeting anywhere. You have got to plan for it. Your competitors are planning for it. Why do you think they are making investments in Unified Communications like Microsoft Office 365 and other Collaborative applications in the cloud, like team workspaces, messaging, web conferencing and video conferencing?

You can’t just set it and forget it and think that will meet the needs. Because of consumerization (which drives innovation), things are changing so fast. You must plan for it or you are going to face stiff challenges in your business.